Journal
EXPERIMENTAL AND APPLIED ACAROLOGY
Volume 48, Issue 1-2, Pages 63-80Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s10493-009-9239-1
Keywords
Biological control; Ectoparasite; Poultry red mite; Dermanyssus gallinae; Predatory mites; Androlaelaps casalis; Hypoaspis aculeifer; European starling; Sturnus vulgaris; Chicken; Gallus gallus; Trophic structure; Bird nest; Poultry house
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The poultry red mite, Dermanyssus gallinae, is currently a significant pest in the poultry industry in Europe. Biological control by the introduction of predatory mites is one of the various options for controlling poultry red mites. Here, we present the first results of an attempt to identify potential predators by surveying the mite fauna of European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) nests, by assessing their ability to feed on poultry red mites and by testing for their inability to extract blood from bird hosts, i.e., newly hatched, young starlings and chickens. Two genuine predators of poultry red mites are identified: Hypoaspis aculeifer and Androlaelaps casalis. A review of the literature shows that some authors suspected the latter species to parasitize on the blood of birds and mammals, but they did not provide experimental evidence for these feeding habits and/or overlooked published evidence showing the reverse. We advocate careful analysis of the trophic structure of arthropods inhabiting bird nests as a basis for identifying candidate predators for control of poultry red mites.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available